When Their Paths Cross
by Ajerzaaddict
Summary: Oneshots written for the Jerza week 2015 on Tumblr.
1. Bonus Day: Tomorrow

Jellal couldn't sleep.

It wasn't something new to him though. After all, being one who had spent thousand nights in his thirty years of life up to this very moment either in a cursed tower as a slave, or in jail as a prisoner, or in the wild as a fugitive, sleep had always been something luxury to him due to the harsh living conditions.

But the reason for his current insomnia had nothing to do with the conditions of his surroundings. In fact, he was lying on the comfy bed in his bedroom of his house which had allowed him to have some good sleep finally in the past two years after he was acquitted of the charges from the Magic Council.

He was getting married tomorrow. He was apparently feeling a little bit too excited and also nervous about it that he didn't feel sleepy at all. And there was also this fear that everything was only from his imagination but not real which haunted him. Somehow deep in his heart, he still found it hard to believe that Erza, the woman who had the most beautiful heart in his eyes, would love and marry a sinner like him.

Getting up, he switched on the bedside lamp which instantly illuminated the room with soft yellow light. Turning his head to the right, his eyes met his three pieces white wedding suit being hanged up straightly and tidily on the clothes stand. His lips naturally curved into a smile before he averted his gaze to his bedside drawers, eyes meeting the miniature communication lacrima placed on top of the wooden furniture. He wished to hear the voice of his fiancée, to hear the sound of her laughers, which always had the power to calm him down. However, he suspected that she was still occupied with the bachelorette party and he certainly didn't want to interrupt her.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he closed his eyes replaying the wedding procession they rehearsed briefly in the castle yesterday in his mind, trying to remember every detail. He was a little bit worried that his mind might suddenly go blank and that he would forget one or two steps of the ceremony when he truly stood in front of the officer tomorrow to get marry for real. He was almost certain that he would be flooded with mixed emotions when the moment came. How could he not when he was already feeling equally excited, happy and nervous in the rehearsal?

But before he could finish running every step of the procession in his mind, the communication lacrima vibrated and brought a stop to his train of thought.

Opening his eyes he quickly grabbed the device, and grinned when saw who the caller was.

" _Hey, Erza_."

Erza couldn't help smiling when hearing Jellal's cheerful and loving voice again after not talking to him for one whole day. All the preparation for the wedding had been finished yesterday, and they had agreed to spend the last day before the wedding separately with their own guild and friends.

"Did I wake you up?"

" _No, I haven't slept yet. Has your party finished?_ "

She had spent most of the day in Fairy Tail's guild building on partying with her guild mates and some friends from other guilds. But at night, she had chosen to spend some cozy time with her bridesmaids only at Fairy Hills.

"Yes. I decided to call it a day and asked the girls to go to rest. I didn't want all of us to stay up late at night to get eye bags on my wedding day. And how was your day?"

She was amused when Jellal answered her with a sigh, knowing that his guild mates who all had distinctive character must have given him some hard time, and listened patiently to him retelling the events of the day. She learnt that he had spent the morning on listening to Richard reading a book on how to have a perfect marriage while having Macbeth at the side kept throwing discouraging comments on marriage at him in-between. That he was dragged to the spa centre by Meredy and Sorano to receive massage and facial treatment in the afternoon. Also that at night he was kidnapped by Erik and Swayer to a pub to have drinks and men's talk which ended up with he taking two drunken men back to their respective home.

"You had a rather busy day."

" _I did._ " Hearing his tiring tone, she pictured him wearing a bitter smile on his face when replying her in her mind. " _How was your day then?_ "

She then gave him a detail report on what had happened in the parties at the guild and at the dormitory.

" _Your day certainly sounded much better than mine."_ A soft chuckle could be heard from the other side of the lacrima. _"I'm happy to know that you had a great day, Erza._ "

"But tomorrow will be an even more wonderful day, for both you and me." She told him softly.

This time he didn't say anything in return.

"Jellal?"

" _Erza._ " The suddenly serious tone Jellal used in saying her name made Erza's heart jump. " _We are getting married tomorrow, or more precisely…ten hours from now, am I right?_ "

She turned her gaze to the clock to read the time before answering. "Yes."

" _Everything is real and is not from my imagination, is that true?_ "

Erza felt her heart clenched a little after hearing Jellal's question. She could understand where his insecurities came from.

"It's all reality."

It had taken them a very long and hard time to be finally able to remove the obstacles between them to get together, which involved a lot of reasoning and persuasion from her and also a lot of struggles from him to overcome his guilt and self-loathing. Sometimes, she also felt it kind of surreal that they were actually going to get married. But then again, never before had she felt her life being as fulfilled and as completed as in now that she knew every moment she was living now, was indeed real.

"I am going to marry you tomorrow, Jellal. And I will allow no one and nothing to stop me from doing so." She paused and inhaled deeply, hesitating a little about what she was going to ask him for. "Promise me you wouldn't run away from me anymore."

"Never will I leave you again."

Shaking his head slightly Jellal buried half of his face into his palm; tears welled up in his eyes as Erza's reassuring words rid him of his insecure feelings while making him feel ashamed of making her worry.

"Thank you, Erza. I'm sorry for asking those stupid questions."

" _Your questions weren't stupid. I know how you feel. And I'm always here for you._ "

There she was, being all understanding and considerate with him despite of his foolishness.

"Erza, I love you." He didn't know a better way to express how thankful he was to have her in his life than telling her that he loved her.

" _I love you too, Jellal._ "

"I can't wait to see you tomorrow."

" _Me too. And we must show up in our best shape in our wedding tomorrow. Maybe you should go to sleep now, Jellal, you need some good rest after having a busy day._ "

"Your wish is my command." Jellal answered with all sincerity. He did hope that after talking to Erza he would be able to relax and fall in sleep finally. "Good night, Erza, have a sweet dream."

" _Good night, Jellal, have a sweet dream too._ "

But they both knew that no dream would be sweeter than the reality of them getting married.


	2. Day 1: Roses

"Miss Scarlet!"

Erza was about to open the door to the building in which she was currently living when she heard a familiar female voice calling her. Turning her head, she smiled at the woman who owned the florist's shop on the other side of the street.

"Good evening Mrs. Dubois. What can I do for you?"

"Oh it's nothing." Mrs. Dubois waved her hand and smiled back. "But we have blue roses today. I think you may want to get some?"

Erza's eyes lit up with pleasant surprise. "Yes, I'd love to. Thanks for telling me."

As a result, Erza had a dozen of blue roses together with some baby's-breath in her hands when she steadily climbed up the stairs leading to the apartment on the 3rd floor which had become her home since five months ago, after the disbandment of Fairy Tail.

Erza didn't have too much problem of adapting to her new life, living on her own and alone. But she did often miss her disbanded guild and her friends who went separated ways in fighting for the goal they wished to attain in their lives. And recently, she also found herself having spent more time than before on thinking about certain personal issue, namely, her relationship with the infamous fugitive and the master of the independent guild Crime Sorciere, Jellal Fernandes.

She had heard rumors that the new Magic Council was considering pardoning Jellal and Meredy in recognition of their effort in obliterating dark guilds and also granting ex-members of Oracion Seis release on parole for them to continue helping Jellal.

A soft sigh left Erza's month as she mindlessly wondered once again if Jellal was free, if they meet each other again, whether they would finally be able to develop a romantic relationship like how ordinary people did.

But she certainly had never thought that when she reached the 3rd floor, she would find Jellal standing in front of her apartment, without wearing his cloak and holding a bouquet of red roses in his hands.

She blinked her eyes several times, but she could still see Jellal standing a few steps away from her, which meant that he wasn't her hallucination.

"Jellal!" Erza addressed the man in a tone of surprise as she quickly approached him, being puzzled by his sudden appearance but also feeling glad to see him.

"It's nice to see you again, Erza." Jellal smiled. However, his smile wasn't a natural happy one, Erza noticed, but a little nervous one.

"Why are you here, Jellal?" Erza asked, looking into Jellal's eyes. Both her voice and gaze were now full of concern.

There was a moment of silence before Jellal answered.

"Could we talk inside your home? That is if you don't mind, of course."

"No, of course not. Come in."

Erza opened the door with key and entered her home. Jellal followed her into the apartment and closed the door behind him.

After putting down the flowers in her hands on the table, Erza asked Jellal to take a seat on the couch with her.

"Don't you want to put down the flowers, Jellal?" Seeing Jellal still holding the bouquet of red roses in his hands even after sitting down beside her, Erza was tempted to ask him if the flowers were for her. But such question sounded too shameless that she finally decided against asking it.

Jellal stared at Erza for a moment before averting his gaze from her.

"These roses are for you." He handed out the roses to Erza; a light shade of pink tinted his cheeks. "I hope you like them."

"I-it's very nice of you! T-thank you!" Erza suppressed a yelp from leaving her throat and tried not to sound too excited as she took the flowers from Jellal. And the look in her eyes softened as she appreciated the tender and lovely roses which shared the same color of her hair. "They are beautiful. I love them."

Jellal took a glance at Erza with a ghost of a smile on his lips before his gaze drifted from her face to the flowers on the table.

"What about…those blue roses? They are rather uncommon to see. Do you love them too?" He paused and swallowed nervously. "From an admirer of yours, I guess?"

For a moment, Erza just stared at Jellal with widen eyes and opened mouth, bewildered by the questions he asked her. Then, she burst into giggles.

"Yes I love blue roses too. But they are not from an admirer or anyone else. I am the one who bought them. I always do whenever the florist has them because…" She stopped mid-sentence being not sure if it would embarrass herself by telling Jellal the reasons. But on second thought, those reasons weren't really anything shameful to share and she was sure that Jellal would understand. "The color. It reminds me of the color of your hair."

Jellal turned to face Erza once again after hearing her explanation; the tensed expression on his face softened into a relieved smile.

"Whenever I saw things which had the shade of red similar to the color of your hair, be it roses or sunset, I thought about you too."

It warmed Erza's heart to know that she and Jellal were the same, that they both always had each other on their mind. However, Erza also felt heavy at heart to think that despite their mutual feelings, whether there would be a day for them to be together as a couple was still something unknown to them.

"Jellal, do you know the meanings of blue roses?"

Jellal titled his head while trying to figure out something about blue roses before he finally shook his head. "What are they?"

Erza turned her head to the side to avoid looking directly at Jellal. "I-I heard from the florist that blue roses symbolize the mystery, the impossible and the unattainable." Raising her hands holding the red roses, Erza hid her reddened face behind the flowers as she spoke in a small voice. "And I often feel that you are like the most unattainable blue rose in the world I desire the most."

She felt the heaviness in the air as silence enveloped her and Jellal after she revealed to Jellal what he meant to her, making it hard for her to breathe. And she wondered how Jellal felt about her words.

What if she hurt him?

"I'm sorry." They spoke up at the same time

Jellal immediately raised up a hand to stop Erza from saying anything further. "Listen to me first, Erza."

So she did.

"I know how you feel. It pained me whenever I thought that you were someone whom I couldn't have in my life. And you are certainly not the one who holds responsibility for these feelings we have. It's me. We have to separate from each other because I'm a fugitive and because I don't think that I deserve you."

"It's not true, what you said about you not deserving me." Erza protested.

Jellal smiled fondly at Erza. "I still don't think that I'm your best option at the moment. But I will work hard to become a better man to make myself truly worthy of you. My circumstances are changing that I think it's really time for me to leave the past behind and open the door to a new future."

"What circumstances?" Erza asked before something clicked in her mind. "No, wait. You couldn't mean that that rumors about the Magic Council…"

Jellal nodded, grinning. "I'm a free man now, Erza. I want to tell you this news in person before you hear the official announcement from the Magic Council tomorrow. That's why I come to see you."

Tears welled up in Erza's eyes. Putting the red roses aside, she threw herself at Jellal, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I feel so happy for you!"

Hesitantly, Jellal encircled Erza's waist with his arms to pull her into an embrace. "Thank you so much, Erza."

"We can finally meet whenever and wherever we want without worrying you being caught, Jellal. I don't think I'd need to buy blue roses anymore."

"Then I think I should start sending you red roses every day instead. Do you know the meanings of red roses?"

"Of course I know." Chuckling, Erza answered happily and proudly.


	3. Day 2: Sunset

Watching sunset with Erza on the beach had been one of Jellal's most favorite activities. He would find a palm tree and sat against its trunk while Erza would settle herself comfortably between his legs, leaning her back on his chest and resting her head on his shoulder. He would then wrap his left arm around Erza's waist, intertwining his fingers with her right hand over her stomach, as they watched the sun gradually sinking below the horizon, painting the sky scarlet with its' fading rays. The sight was simply stunningly beautiful to look at and he loved to spend this kind of peaceful moment with Erza since there were always too many dramas in their lives.

But ever since he lost Erza, it pained Jellal's heart in an unspeakable way every time he watched the sunset, being all alone without the love of his life by his side anymore. Yet, he couldn't resist watching it again and again on the beach at where Erza and he had watched sunset many times together. It wasn't only because the scarlet sky reminded him so much of Erza's hair color and her bright and warm personality. But seeing the scene also brought back to him memories of those significant moments in his life spent with Erza.

The setting sun had witnessed their reunion after 7 years and their unsuccessful attempt to kiss. It was by their side when he confessed to Erza and when they kissed for real for the first time. It had congratulated them when Erza accepted his wedding proposal. It had presented when they tied the knot. And it had continued to accompany them on many romantic and family occasions for years to come.

Even when Erza spent her last moment in life with him, it was also on the scene.

" _I'll still be with you if you have me in your heart._ " Her last words replayed in Jellal's head as the sea breeze gently caressed his face and rustled his hair. " _Live on, and accomplish things I can't anymore in my place_."

Jellal watched the sun set once again allowing darkness to take over the world temporarily. But he could still see light in his heart. Erza would be the sun in his life which never sunk. Even thought she had gone, her light would continue to shine, giving him courage and guiding him towards the right path.

"I'll always have you in my heart till my last breath, Erza."


	4. Day 3: Diamonds

"No!"

Erza screamed in horror when her diamond pendant necklace dropped from her neck, its' chain being broken by the sword in her enemy's hands which almost slid across her throat.

All she wanted to do in that instance was to catch the pendant but being in the middle of a fight with two swords in her hands, she couldn't. She let her shock subside but allowed her rage taking over her, launching her strongest attack at her enemy slicing through his chest with her swords. The enemy fell backward; the blood spilt from his body tainted her face and armor. But neither did her victory nor the blood concern Erza.

The swords in her hands vanished as she dropped to her knees, scrabbling in the muddy ground searching for her necklace on all fours.

"I can't loss you! I can't loss you!" Her voice was shaking with fear as she murmured repeatedly, while tears started to well up in her eyes.

Erza couldn't explain the relief she felt when her fingers finally came in touch with the cold surface of the pendant after around a minute of searching. She exhaled a deep breath she didn't aware she had been holding as she picked up her necklace and changed into a sitting position instead. Holding the pendant in her palm she balled up her fist, feeling the hardness of the diamond against her soft skin to assure herself that the piece of jewelry, which was as important to her as her own life, was truly once again in her possession.

"Forgive me, Jellal, for being so careless, so reckless. Forgive me, Jellal." She placed her fist over her heart, feeling the tears rolling down her cheek. "I can't loss you. Not again."

* * *

Sitting in the guest room by herself, Erza fidgeted with her fingers, regretted that she had declined Bisca's offer to accompany her to where she was now. She didn't want to trouble Bisca again stealing her time from her daughter, but also because she thought that with the experience of the first visit, she would be able to handle the situation calmly in this second and last visit. However, it turned out that she was as anxious as she was when she ordered the tailed made jewelry three months ago while waiting to receive it.

She tried to relax, breathing slowing and deeply, and distracting herself from counting the waiting time by focusing her attention on the decorations of the room. She noted that the wall paper was light yellow with pattern of lilies imprinted on it while the window curtain was made of violet gauze. A bookstand was placed beside the window with various magazines and books displayed on it, and she recognized the person on the cover of one of the magazines was Jura. Then, she turned her gaze to the door when she heard the turning sound of the doorknob. _Finally._

The door opened, revealing a woman holding a rectangular leather jewelry tray in her hands. A palm-sized deep blue velvet box could be seen sitting at the centre of the tray.

The woman greeted Erza, smiling gently, and put down the tray on the table in front of Erza, before sitting down beside her.

"It's beautiful." The woman told Erza with a tone which meant to sooth her. "I hope that you'll find the comfort you need from having this piece of tribute."

She reached out her hand to take the velvet box, intending to open it for Erza to see the jewelry inside. But Erza was faster, grabbing the box before it was taken by the woman.

"I'm sorry." Erza apologized for her rudeness. "I'd like to open it myself. And would you…allow me a private moment to do it, please?"

The woman placed a hand on Erza's shoulder and nodded to show her understanding. "Sure. Shall I come back, say, in 15 minutes?"

Erza smiled a thankful smile. "Yes, this sounds good."

The woman left the room, leaving Erza by herself once again.

Her heart was racing, aching, as Erza stared down at the velvet box, feeling its lightness in her hand but heaviness in her heart. Inhaling and letting out a soft sigh, she finally allowed herself to open the box.

Lying on the creamy pad inside the box was a teardrop sea blue diamond made of Jellal's ashes.

Tears freely dropped down from Erza's eyes, wetting her cheeks, as memories on the times she spent with Jellal, happy and sad, sweet and painful, all rushing back to her instantly.

With shaking hand, she took the diamond out and left the box on the table before gently placing the gem on her palm.

It felt cold against her skin. But Jellal's embrace was always, _always_ , so warm.

The indescribable pain of losing Jellal which Erza had tried so, _so_ hard to lessen, to suppress, to ignore, over the past few months, took over her once again. Trembling, she sobbed loudly, heartbreakingly, into her fist wrapped around the diamond.

"It's okay…it's okay." She comforted herself after crying for some moments, being able to calm down a little after releasing some of her emotions through tears. "He wouldn't want to see you crying like this over him."

Loosening her fist, she stared down at the diamond through her still watery eyes, gaze soft. From now on, at least she would have a part of Jellal to stay with her all the time. And that way, at least Jellal could still keep his promise to her even though he was gone.

A small smile found its' way on her lips. It carried sadness, but also relief at the same time.

* * *

She had committed the greatest mistakes in her life, Erza realized, when Jellal's body fell on the ground in front of her eyes.

She shouldn't have believed in what Natsu said, that he had already taken control of his body and had sealed his demon self away. She shouldn't have let her guard down requipping her Heaven Wheels armor away, allowing the sudden attack from Natsu to injury her badly. She shouldn't have thought of Jellal when Natsu tried to end her life with another blow because she should have known that Jellal could sense that her was in danger, would come to her immediately and would do anything to save her.

He found her and saved her just in time before the blow hit her by picking her up using Meteor.

But Natsu had no intention to let them escape from him.

She helplessly watched Jellal putting up a fight against Natsu alone trying to protect her and to buy time for other mages to come to join the fight. But even thought he was one of the strongest mages in the continent, his attack did little damage to the strongest demon among Zeref's books while the attack directed at him, which he had successfully got away with Meteor a multiple times, was fatal if he got hit.

She desperately wanted to help him, trying to at least summon a weapon in her hand, but failed. She felt hopeless started to consume her with regretful tears welling up in her eyes, only to find her hope again when Natsu was suddenly restrained by several ice-made chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles. .

Jellal took the opportunity to come back to her side.

"Are you okay, Erza?" From the tone of his voice and the look on his face, she knew that he was worrying for her just as much as she was worrying for him.

She forced a smile on her face. "Yes, I'm fin- "

Erza couldn't finish her sentence when a vastly amount of blood spout from Jellal's mouth all of a sudden, his body falling forward, lying just beside her. Her eyes, widened with horror, fixed on his back – clothes tattered, flesh being ripped open and blood rushing out from the wounds.

They had overlooked the fact that other than using his four limbs, Natsu could also fire an attack with his mouth.

Crying and shouting, she turned Jellal's head to the side so that he was facing her, cupping his cheeks. "Wake up Jellal! Don't sleep! Wake up! Don't you hear me? I tell you to wake up!"

When Jellal finally opened his eyes again, relief washed over Erza. She had believed that he would be able to escape from Death once more, never expecting him to force himself to stay conscious for a brief moment only so that he could comfort her for one last time in his life.

"I'm afraid that…I can't stay by your side anymore."

"No! You've promised me! You can't break your promise!"

"I'm sorry." He felt her tears fell on his face, like rain, mingling with his blood. "Don't cry…Erza. I'm happy that…..I've saved you."

But Erza couldn't stop herself from crying even harder.

"Nothing's your fault. Erza, I love you."

"I love you too, Jellal. I love you very much. Don't leave me alone."

Jellal could only smile sadly at Erza in response, losing the last ounce of energy to speak another word, before he closed his eyes for eternity.

Erza's heart-wrecking scream shot through the sky.

* * *

This was true happiness to Erza, waking up with Jellal still hugging her form against his body.

No more emptiness to feel in her heart for not having Jellal staying with her till morning came. No more loneliness to fight against while she waited to meet Jellal again. No more fear to overcome when she worried about Jellal for being caught by the Magic Council.

Jellal was finally a free man. He could travel freely, meet her freely, date her freely, and married her freely.

Erza blushed at her own thought and buried her face against Jellal's chest, which, unintentionally woke up Jellal.

Opening his eyes and seeing the head of scarlet hair below his chin, Jellal smiled and kissed the crown of Erza's head. "Good morning."

Erza pulled away a small distance and looked up at Jellal. "Good morning. Sorry for waking you up."

"No, it's fine." He leaned forward to kiss her lips. "You slept well with me occupying half of your bed for one whole night?" He asked half concerned half jokingly.

"Never been better." She assured him with a smile. "And to have you by my side when I woke up…I'm truly happy and thankful for it."

"I'll always be with you." Jellal said, holding Erza closer and tighter. "I'm not leaving you anymore, Erza."

Their chests pressed against each other, and Erza could feel their hearts beating at the same rhythm. She knew that he was sincere and serious about what he said and she had no reason to not trust him.

"Unless you ask me to, then I'll –"

Erza interrupted Jellal by sealing his lips with hers.

"Don't ever try to think that there's a chance for me to ask you to leave me." She told him after breaking the kiss. "And remember to keep your promise too."

Jellal grinned happily at Erza. "Certainly."


End file.
